In order that a desired diagnosis image is obtained by the use of a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, various parameters need to be set to the apparatus in accordance with a purpose of imaging, a use of the diagnosis image and so on, e.g., as disclosed in US 2009/0175524 A1, etc.
Parameters to be set to the apparatus are various, such as parameters related to an imaging target part (e.g., a center position of a slice, a direction of the slice, a direction of phase encoding, etc.), parameters related to image resolution (a thickness of the slice, a size of a matrix, FOV, etc.), parameters related to image contrast (e.g., TR, TE, a flip angle, etc.) and so on.
As is often the case with obtaining an MRI image, e.g., images of a same part of a same patient are taken while contrast is being changed. Although different values have to be set to the parameters related to the contrast each time of imaging in such a case, same values can be copied and set to the parameters related to the imaging target part which do not need to be changed, so that setting time can be shortened and an erroneous setting caused by carelessness can be prevented.
In another case where a treatment history for one and the same patient is diagnosed, an image is taken with a same parameter as that used for imaging in the past so that a comparable image can be obtained more accurately. In such a case as well, the parameters used for imaging in the past are copied and set so that setting time can be shortened and an erroneous setting caused by carelessness can be prevented.
If some or all of the parameters having been set by a user can be copied and used for settings of parameters for a next imaging operation as described above, time required for bothersome parameter settings can be shortened and a risk of an erroneous setting can be reduced.
Although an ordinary magnetic resonance imaging apparatus has such a copy function, its function is limited and is not convenient enough for practical use. According to such an ordinary copy function, e.g., register particular kinds of parameters which can be copied (TR, TE, flip angle, matrix size, etc.) in advance, copy values of the particular parameters having been set and use the copied values for setting parameters for a next imaging operation.
Thus, there are inconveniences such that a value of a parameter desired to be copied cannot be copied unless its kind is registered in advance, and conversely, that a value of a parameter not desired to be copied but registered in advance is automatically copied. Registered kinds of parameters have to be changed in order to solve such inconveniences, but such work takes time by itself and is bothersome.